Southeast Asia & Oceania

US firm First Solar is to build a 1.7MW PV-diesel hybrid system to power mining giant Rio Tinto’s Weipa bauxite mine in Queensland, Australia.

Yingli Green will act as engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) partner on a 5MW ground mount PV project in Thailand as part of a consortium contracted by the country’s main state owned utility.

California-based microinverter maker Enphase has become the latest company in solar to announce expansion plans to meet demand in the Asia-Pacific region, opening an office in Melbourne, Australia to add to its engineering and design centre in New Zealand and distribution hub in Sydney.

First Solar has said it will develop a series of diesel-PV hybrid power plants for mines in remote parts of Australia, according to a media report.

A small fire broke out at REC Solar's manufacturing facilities in Tuas, Singapore this morning.

GT Advanced Technologies (GTAT) has secured a major US$336 million polysilicon equipment and technology deal with Cosmos Chemicals Berhad as part of plans to build a 25,000MT integrated polysilicon plant in Sarawak, Malaysia.

The pipeline of approved PV projects in the Philippines reached over 1GW in January, according to the country’s Department of Energy (DoE).

The Small-scale Renewable Energy Scheme (SRES), Australia’s rooftop PV incentive, has negligible impact on household power bills, according to analysis published ahead of a review of the country’s renewable energy target (RET).

Industry advocacy body, the Australian Solar Council, has launched a ‘save solar’ campaign.

The abolition of Australia’s Renewable Energy Target (RET) could lead to the loss of almost 7,000 jobs, according to an industry body.